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I went from fear of flying to now planning to get my pilots license. I believe I am naturally a person which sees many aspects of a thing and many possibilities

I went from fear of flying to now planning to get my pilots license. I believe I am naturally a person which sees many aspects of a thing and many possibilities, take that and my (probably basic) understanding of airplanes, computer systems and people, I always could immediately construct series of events in my mind that led to catastrophy. What if the pilot is depressed because his wife just died? What if the coffee cooker has been badly serviced and will start a fire? What if there's a tired ATC controller and we collide mid air with another plane? What if the engine has a slight imbalance, falls apart, and the parts hit some hydraulic line that immobilises the control surfaces etc. I think it has to do with being a programmer, I see bugs all day and I can just imagine what can go wrong in an aircraft. Also in the mix: A fear of heights and a fear of death. What helped me: Statistics, realising that I am more likely to die sitting on my couch than sitting in a Boeing 757.. That I am relying on far less sophisticated drivers on the road to not mess up, and I am ok with it. That life is uncertain and that I can't live in in fear. And the fact that planes cannot just fall out of the sky, they are shaped in a certain way that ensures flight as long as there is wind hitting the front of the aircraft. And they make their own wind with their engines.. It just clicked eventually and now I'm even enjoying turbulence (as long as I don't spill hot coffee over my pants).. I also don't mind to crash and die, to be honest. After all, I am not Peter Thiel or Ray Kurzweil, so death is 100% certain for me. So why not die doing something I enjoy. Of course the odds are I won't perish in an aircraft. At home on my sofa, now that's more likely..

sokoloff 5y ago
I’m a pilot and have strong fear of heights. (It’s hard for me to change the outside floodlight bulb that is maybe 10 feet off the ground.) Fear of heights literally never presented in training or subsequent flying. The pathway is different, at least for me, but I’ve known many other pilots who are afraid of heights as well so it seems semi-common.
- dahart 5y ago
  Skydiving is something I thought would help me get over fear of heights, among other fears. It didn’t work- the height at altitude is abstract, it wasn’t hard to jump out of the plane and let go, I guess because the landing wasn’t imminent. The first time I jumped was out of a Cessna and the procedure was to hang from the strut and let go. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to let go that I asked the pilot for 30 extra seconds on the jump approach so I could just hang there and get used to the idea. He obliged, but I only lasted a couple of seconds before I thought no biggie and took off. I dropped so early I didn’t quite make it back to the drop zone and had to walk for a while. A couple hundred skydives later, too many flights to count, and some occasional cliff jumps and bike dirt jumps, I’m still to this day terrified about climbing down ten feet from my roof on a ladder. But I no longer feel like I need to overcome it, and in a weird way I’m glad it’s still a “thrill” to stand on the edge of something tall.
  - phlalexsh 5y ago
    That last sentence is inspiring.
ironmagma 5y ago
> planes cannot just fall out of the sky Sure they can… example [1], not to mention things like stalls or icing on the wings like with Air Florida. But it’s true, the trick to not worrying about your flight is to enjoy the risk of flying. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53880254 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53880254

sokoloff 5y ago

I’m a pilot and have strong fear of heights. (It’s hard for me to change the outside floodlight bulb that is maybe 10 feet off the ground.) Fear of heights literally never presented in training or subsequent flying. The pathway is different, at least for me, but I’ve known many other pilots who are afraid of heights as well so it seems semi-common.

dahart 5y ago
Skydiving is something I thought would help me get over fear of heights, among other fears. It didn’t work- the height at altitude is abstract, it wasn’t hard to jump out of the plane and let go, I guess because the landing wasn’t imminent. The first time I jumped was out of a Cessna and the procedure was to hang from the strut and let go. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to let go that I asked the pilot for 30 extra seconds on the jump approach so I could just hang there and get used to the idea. He obliged, but I only lasted a couple of seconds before I thought no biggie and took off. I dropped so early I didn’t quite make it back to the drop zone and had to walk for a while. A couple hundred skydives later, too many flights to count, and some occasional cliff jumps and bike dirt jumps, I’m still to this day terrified about climbing down ten feet from my roof on a ladder. But I no longer feel like I need to overcome it, and in a weird way I’m glad it’s still a “thrill” to stand on the edge of something tall.
- phlalexsh 5y ago
  That last sentence is inspiring.

ironmagma 5y ago

> planes cannot just fall out of the sky Sure they can… example [1], not to mention things like stalls or icing on the wings like with Air Florida. But it’s true, the trick to not worrying about your flight is to enjoy the risk of flying. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53880254 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53880254